Title:Bayou Beats(link) Publisher: Walt Disney Released: November 7, 2009 Cost: Free iTouch?: Yes Pros: Free, some replay value, music from the film Cons: Large installation due to music video Review: In promotion of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog which opens nationwide December 11 comes this free app which includes a small, quasi-addictive game along with a music video and a lot of purchase links.

The game itself is small and pretty straightforward. Using instrumental versions of one of several songs from the feature film (but sadly not Gonna Take You There) as a backdrop, the game consists of pressing one of several buttons along the bottom as they are lit up by falling crowns passing through them. The game keeps track of how many correct touches in a row you have and then rewards long streaks by increasing a score multiplier. Where it may get confusing is that it looks like you have to ‘catch’ the individual crowns, but while you do have to prevent the crown from passing through without being touched, the key is you’re touching the button while it’s lit which means a single crown can yield you 2 or 3 successful touches if done quickly enough while a few crowns in immediate succession can yield a quick finger upwards of 15 touches or so. Get too greedy by having one of your touches land when the button is no longer lit, however, and the frog croaks and the chain count is reset to zero.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s sports complex in central Florida will be renamed in February after its ESPN unit, in a move to strengthen the well-known sports brand’s ties with young athletes.

The shift — plans for which were announced about a year ago — targets the 500,000 athletes and 1.5 million spectators who annually visit the 220-acre multisport complex near Disney’s theme park in Orlando, Florida, officials said.

“ESPN is doing this because they want to get closer to the fan and in particular they want to get closer to the youth athlete,” Ken Potrock, Disney’s senior vice president of global sports, said in a telephone interview.

On December 5, the World of Disney store in the Downtown Disney Marketplace will be open exclusively to Walt Disney World annual passholders from 6:30 am – 9:30 am. In addition to great discounts of up to 50% off, the first 1,000 shoppers will receive a free Vinylmation gift. Annual Passholders will also receive 20% off the purchase of Vinylmation figures in addition to the 10% merchandise discount (while supplies last during the event). Santa Goofy will also be on hand to celebrate.

Dedicated to expanding its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, Disney/ABC Television Group will unveil ABC Social: Episode Commentary, a new feature of ABC.com’s Full Episode Player integrated with Facebook Connect, which allows online viewers to create their own commentary tracks to ABC episodes and share the experience with friends. The new Episode Commentary will be available beginning this Saturday, November 7, for the first episode of ABC’s new series “V,” and will feature expert commentary from “V” executive producers Scott Peters and Steve Pearlman. This new feature will roll out across other series on ABC.com over the coming weeks.

“ABC Social: Episode Commentary is great example of how we are continually pushing the envelope to create ‘what’s next’ and use our digital platforms to further engage the core fans of our series,” said Alexis Rapo, vice president, Digital Media, ABC Entertainment. “Now online viewers at ABC.com can not only take part in a world class viewing experience, but also engage with ‘show experts’ and share their own viewer-created commentaries seamlessly within our player – the result is a rich, social experience that can only be found on our site.”

Expert commentary featured in the Full Episode Player will vary from episode to episode and may include insights from a series’ producers, writers and directors, stars of the series, production and costume designers, music supervisors and network executives, among others.

Two-time Emmy Award winner and NY Times best-selling author Kathy Griffin (“My Life on the D-List”) will host “Let’s Dance,” a new, comedic dance series from “American Idol” producers FremantleMedia North America that features stars competing for charity as they pay homage to some of the most famous movie, musical and pop video dance routines of all time. “Let’s Dance” will kick off its five-episode run with a live 90-minute premiere episode on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23 (9:30-11:00 p.m., ET) following the Season 9 finale broadcast of “Dancing with the Stars” on the ABC Television Network. Additional episodes will air on Monday, Nov. 30, Mon., Dec. 7 and Mon., Dec. 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) with the finale on Tues., Dec. 15 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET).

There’s just no beating around the bush about this one: one of the most thrilling action movies this year was written by Charles Dickens in 1843. The only questions that remain are just how good is this movie that Disney has been promoting in over the top ways? And what should you know about this movie before you see it?

Check out our review of Disney’s newest film for all the sordid details.

BURBANK, Calif. — The Walt Disney Company today announced that the Project Application Report (PAR) for a Disney theme park in the Pudong district of Shanghai has received approval from the relevant authorities of the central government of China.

“China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for The Walt Disney Company in mainland China,” said Robert A. Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

The world premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol took place today in London, kicking off the holiday season with a spectactle of events. Walt Disney Studios has graciously provided us with photos of the premiere itself which we’d like to share with you.

All photos by Gareth Cattermole, Ian Gavan and Marco Secchi for Getty Images, courtesy of Disney.

As always, clicking on the thumbnail below will show a larger version of the photo.